Chapter 1784: Chapter 981: Bizarre Car Accident (Part 2)

"Like when I worked part-time at the funeral home—whether a person’s dead or alive, the moment I cremate them, I know!"

Zhang Zhaodi thought to herself: "If I burn them I’d know too..."

Duan Shigang showed off: "Back when I was mixing it up on the streets, I could tell if a guy was cocky or not—one kick and I’d know!"

Liu Chuandao refused to be outdone: "Back when I followed my uncle to fix power lines, whether there was current or not, one touch and I’d know!"

Hard to comment.

Zhang Chi wolfed down a ton of lamb skewers, but still felt something was missing—fruit. He glanced around and spotted an honest-looking female classmate, Jianxi.

Zhang Chi mulled it over, then took the initiative: "Jianxi, how come you’re eating so little? Look at Han Wen Nuan over there, she eats more than a pig!"

Han Wen Nuan was pissed, but tonight the guys paid and the girls ate free; she had no standing to speak up.

Jianxi waved her hands hurriedly: "I really don’t eat much."

Zhang Chi was displeased: "No way that’s okay. Waiter!"

Pei Yujing walked over.

"Two cans of canned yellow peaches!"

Very soon, the cans were served.

Zhang Chi grabbed a lid and twisted hard. As everyone knows, canned food is a very abstract object—no matter how strong you are, sometimes it just won’t open.

He twisted twice and couldn’t get it open, and was about to go look for tools.

Seeing this, Jianxi hurried to say: "It’s fine, if it won’t open then forget it, I don’t need to eat it."

"Shit!" Zhang Chi gave up on tools, staked his dignity on it, and decided to battle the can to the bitter end.

In the end he still got it open—he was, after all, at "quasi-sports student" level.

Zhang Chi and the others shared the canned peaches, then knocked back a few more kidney skewers. The vibe at the table was pretty great.

Taking advantage of the new classmates not paying attention, Liu Duan Zhang exchanged a glance between the three of them.

Zhang Chi spoke first: "Her family’s barbecue is great and all, but she doesn’t have my favorite drink. I’m gonna go buy a bottle. I’ll be right back!"

Zhong Huai didn’t think much of it: "Sure, go ahead."

Duan Shigang shouted: "Grab one for me too, I’ll pay you back later."

Zhang Chi lied through his teeth: "What do you mean pay me back, my treat!"

Duan Shigang frowned: "Even real brothers should keep things clear."

Zhang Chi: "I’m treating! You’re not allowed to pay!"

Liu Chuandao got annoyed and spoke up righteously: "What’s with you two arguing about who’s treating? I’LL treat!"

Then the three of them actually started arguing over who got to treat them to drinks, and the more they argued the louder it got. Zhong Huai was about to step in and break it up.

Zhang Chi suddenly said: "Fuck it! Whoever runs fastest treats!"

With that, Zhang Chi bolted.

Duan Shigang: "Like hell I’m letting you win!"

Liu Chuandao got mad: "What’s that supposed to mean, you looking down on me?"

So the three of them took off chasing each other, running farther and farther until they vanished into the night.

Zhong Huai couldn’t hold it in and laughed out loud: "These bros are something else, really loyal."

Xiao Shaoxiong: "Yeah, these are people you can hang with!"

The only one whose expression froze was Pei Yujing, who was in the middle of serving dishes. Watching the few of them dash off, she found the scene oddly familiar.

But that thought faded as quickly as it came, and Pei Yujing went back to being busy with her life.

Zhong Huai waited and waited at the table. Half an hour went by, and they still hadn’t come back.

"You don’t think something happened to them, do you?" Zhong Huai asked. "Who has their contact info? Call and check?"

Xiao Shaoxiong: "I’m in the class group chat, I’ll take a look."

He pulled out his phone, started poking and tapping, and actually started laughing.

They waited another five minutes. Zhang Zhaodi asked: "You find them?"

Xiao Shaoxiong blanked, then remembered he’d taken out his phone to look for people. He felt embarrassed: "These memes are too damn funny, I got carried away just now, my bad!"

Only then did Xiao Shaoxiong finally tap into the class group.

Zhong Huai was impressed in the worst way. If you were supposed to call the cops, the victim would probably be cold in the ground by the time you finished scrolling.

Zhong Huai: "No good, no one’s replying, and they’re not accepting friend requests either."

Han Wen Nuan thought for a moment, then stood up: "I’ll go look for them, I know where that store is."

Zhong Huai: "Okay."

...

Han Wen Nuan walked along the street searching, checked two convenience stores in a row—no sign of them.

In the end she found Zhang Chi and Duan Shigang outside a pool hall.

Han Wen Nuan was stunned: "Weren’t you going to buy drinks?"

Zhang Chi was stunned too: "How’d you find us?"

Han Wen Nuan: "Zhong Huai and the others are still waiting for you to go back and split the bill AA-style!"

Duan Shigang, the older-brother type, held his cue and invited: "Wanna play a few rounds?"

Han Wen Nuan was sharp. With a bit of guessing, she could tell they just didn’t want to AA.

She looked at the pool table, slightly tempted, then thought it over and asked: "If I play pool, are you guys paying?"

Duan Shigang grinned: "I can afford at least this much."

So Han Wen Nuan joined them for pool.

Meanwhile, back at the barbecue stall, Zhong Huai finally couldn’t wait any longer and called the waiter to settle the bill.

"That’ll be 324 in total, 320 is fine."

Hearing this, Xiao Shaoxiong’s heart clenched. Five people splitting it—64 per head!

With the girls watching, he still coughed up his share.

Zhong Huai, on the other hand, personally laid out a massive 256!

Thinking of his dad working away at a construction site, he almost wanted to burst into that song "Father."

But it was fine. He’d gained friendship, and glory. Even his dad on that construction site would be able to straighten his back with pride!

Besides, there were still three guys who owed him their share!

...

In the end, Duan Shigang paid for the pool. He’d gotten 38,000 in compensation from Shang Zhengyu, so he now had a bit of a nest egg.

The three of them headed back to the dorm together; Liu Chuandao had slipped off earlier.

Walking down the street under the lampposts, Zhang Chi asked: "Xiao Han, why are you so obsessed with making money?"

Han Wen Nuan was dressed in shabby clothes, skinny like one of those street-style girls, but her eyes were bright: "I don’t have a choice. If I don’t make money, I’ll be going hungry pretty soon."

Hearing this, Zhang Chi fell silent for a while, then said: "Yeah. Some people don’t need to earn a cent, their families can just wire them a few grand. Not like us."

Han Wen Nuan: "Exactly."

Even someone as cold as Zhang Chi, running into someone just as broke as himself in this mundane world, felt a bit of pity: "It’s like you can’t see any road ahead at all."

Han Wen Nuan said: "I don’t think so. I feel like this is temporary. Once I get into a top university, everything’s gonna change."

Zhang Chi was stunned. He suddenly remembered that this group of aid students supposedly all had pretty good grades.

Duan Shigang: "Everyone’s got their own path."

At the same time, on the opposite side of the street, a BMW 3 Series was driving toward them, An Chan’s hand resting lightly on the steering wheel.

In the passenger seat, a young woman gazed at the night scene, then suddenly spoke up: "Chanchan, you’ve really decided to stay in Yuzhou and be a teacher?"

The two of them were roommates from East China Normal University, one of the top schools in the country. They could’ve stayed on in Shen City, the most prosperous metropolis in China, but An Chan had chosen to give that up and accept Yu Zhou Fourth Middle School’s talent recruitment offer.

Hearing this, An Chan’s gaze fell outside the window. Compared to the bustling Shen City, Yuzhou was tiny.

Her mood dipped slightly: "My parents aren’t in good health, and they don’t want me far from home."

"Sigh~" The young woman sighed, then joked: "But now that Yuzhou’s got Evergreen Liquid, it’s developing really fast. Maybe in a few years it’ll be the next Nan City."

"Who knows, maybe you’ll be able to marry some rich guy here and live the rich-wife life!" She laughed as she spoke.

An Chan chuckled: "I don’t really dare to dream that big. Being able to live an ordinary life is, in a way, its own kind of success."

Still, there was a touch of disappointment in her smile. Who doesn’t want to see the big, glittering cities?

Maybe because she zoned out, when she took a turn, the front of her car accidentally grazed an electric scooter parked by the roadside.

An Chan slammed the brakes and hurried out to check.

Zhang Chi was bragging to the two of them: "If you want to make money, you gotta grab every opportunity you can!"

Bang! A loud thud.

Zhang Chi paused and noticed the commotion up ahead.

Female driver, BMW, toppled electric scooter.

Zhang Chi took off running and shouted loudly: "What the hell kind of driving is that? You hit my scooter, didn’t you see it?"

An Chan apologized: "I’m so sorry."

Zhang Chi’s eyes almost popped: "What good is ’sorry’? Pay up!"

An Chan was still young and green, and asked, "How much?"

"This is a brand-new scooter my mom just bought me. Look how badly it’s busted! Eight hundred!"

The young woman next to An Chan protested: "You scamming us? Eight hundred?"

Zhang Chi wasn’t scared at all: "Oh? Don’t want to pay? Fine, then I’m calling the cops!"

"Forget it." An Chan didn’t want to get tangled up, so she took out her wallet and handed him eight bills.

Then she checked over the damage to the car before finally driving off.

Once they were gone, Duan Shigang asked in confusion: "Chi Zi, since when do you have a scooter?"

Han Wen Nuan: "The outer shell’s cracked."

Zhang Chi stuffed the money into his pocket, smug as hell: "This isn’t my scooter."